August 5, 1999
Separate Statement
of
Commissioner Susan Ness
Re: Access Charge Reform (CC Docket No. 96-262); Price Cap Performance Review
for Local Exchange Carriers (CC Docket No. 94-1).
During the past decade, exchange access competition has increased significantly. I
am optimistic that the investment and infrastructure deployment that has occurred
demonstrates a strong and irreversible trend toward a multiplicity of carriers in the
marketplace. We must ensure that our regulations do not impede this progress.
Part of the calculus is to determine not just when to regulate, but when to
deregulate. Today we take a measured step forward. By first providing incumbents with
downward pricing flexibility for high-capacity services, we allow them to respond to the
new competitive marketplace for these services. Consumers should also benefit from
lower prices. And, by using the presence of collocation in a market as the trigger for
regulatory relief, incumbents should have additional incentives to work more cooperatively
with new entrants ironing out collocation wrinkles that should have disappeared long
ago.
Although I am enthusiastic about this step forward, I cast my vote with guarded
optimism. I intend to watch marketplace reactions very carefully. I prefer to act
incrementally, so that we can ensure that no harm to competition occurs. If the
framework we set out today is successful, I expect to take more steps in this direction as
we continue down a path toward deregulation.